Coming Soon to a County Near You

Boone, Campbell and Kenton county administrators look for new developments to attract, retain visitors, talent

Boone County Administrator And Deputy Judge

Administrator Jeff Earlywine, Campbell County Economic and Community Development Director Justin Otto and Community Development Manager for Kenton County Dr. Joshua Wice are keenly aware of the economics of Northern Kentucky. With Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties respectively constituting the third largest metropolitan area in the Commonwealth, their commitment to ensuring the stability and growth of those economies is understandable.

What might not be such common knowledge, however, is the role that economic development plays in their counties when it comes to tourism, talent attraction and retention.

“Tourism definitely has a role and place in the well-being and the success of our local economy here in Northern Kentucky and Boone County,” Earlywine says. “We continue to move forward at a very impressive clip, and I think part of that reason is because of the diversity of our economy and everything that we are. Certainly, tourism is part of that.”

Otto, a former general manager for Newport on the Levee, agrees.

“I don't think it would be a surprise to say that for most people in America planning their vacations, Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky are probably not first on the list of destinations. However, when I was at the Levee during spring break, there were families from Lexington, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Columbus within that three- to four-hour driving distance,” Otto says. “There are so many attractions that make planning a three- or four-day trip easy – that's where we're really lucky. Once they’re here, they get to see how cool the entire region is.”

What are the big, exciting coming attractions that will help bring more people to the region? Learn all about the developments that will help shape the future of Northern Kentucky.

Boone County

While he “can’t point to one project focused exclusively on tourism,” Earlywine says there are several developments that stand to serve as points of interest to future visitors.

This includes “quiet conversations” about improving sports tourism which he says could result in the development of some “really high-quality regional sports venues” hosting tournaments and in turn, visitors from surrounding states. Also of importance, Earlywine says, is improving the county’s existing assets such as Lassing Pointe Golf Course in Union. Likewise, he says Boone County must continue building upon its industrial gains like the “important economic engine” that is the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG).

“When you're trying to attract companies to come to Northern Kentucky with good paying jobs, together with our existing companies, and so that they'll want to expand in place here in Boone County, it takes a workforce. It takes good housing, good schools and overall, it takes quality of life,” Earlywine says.

He believes Northern Kentucky is well on its way to achieving that goal.

“Our region is very well positioned for continuing successes. When you look at our most significant assets, CVG, Northern Kentucky University and Thomas Moore, St. Elizabeth Healthcare … If you look at all the transportation projects that are either under construction or on the drawing board right now, the region is in a great position to hopefully go to the next level here in the next 5-10 years,” he says. “We've got really good days ahead of us in Northern Kentucky.”

Campbell County

As a Newport native who grew up in a home two blocks from where he now works, Otto is passionate about Campbell County – a passion now partially fueled by the slate of developments currently underway.

Newport has several projects underway that seek to revolutionize its riverfront setting, headlined by the $100 million investment at Otto’s former employer, Newport on the Levee, and $1 billion mixed-use development at Ovation. Sitting at the confluence of the Ohio and Licking rivers in Newport, the Ovation project includes MegaCorp Pavilion, a $40 million concert/event venue that opened in 2021, a Homewood Suites Hotel, a five-story office building and luxury residences in the form of the Boardwalk Residences at Ovation. The project is also expected to create hundreds of jobs both during construction and long-term.

“It's tough to find a billion-dollar development anywhere in the country, so Ovation is really, really special, from a tourism standpoint and as a very cool catalyst, especially for positive change, for the west side of Newport,” Otto says.

Looking beyond Newport, Otto points to new home construction such as the Fisher Homes’ developments at Memorial Pointe and the Reserve of Parkside in Southgate and Alexandria as examples of growth in the county. Likewise, several businesses are also contributing to Campbell County’s economic stability. Thermo Fisher Scientific is committed to building a $59 million clinical research facility and lab services creating 200 new jobs; this past December saw the Prysmian Group complete a $7.2 million renovation of its North American headquarters in Highland Heights.

This is in addition to the $4.5 million investment via the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to provide access to fiber-to-the-premise gigabit internet access to every residence in Campbell County. This internet access has been pledged to be provided by altafiber to all 207,000 consumer addresses in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties by the summer of 2024.

“When it's completed, Boone, Kenton and Campbell will be the largest area in the United States with 1 GB of fiber available to every household. In talking about attracting people or businesses here,” Otto says. “That's pretty unheard of … That groundwork is going to be transformational.”

Otto says all the developments will help showcase why the lifestyle available in Northern Kentucky could eventually rival anywhere nationwide.

Kenton County

Like Otto, Wice says the altafiber installation is “very important” for Northern Kentucky, noting that Kenton County is focused on being “site ready” for potential businesses looking to move to the area. Having places to live ready for those looking to move to the area is also paramount, which is why he points to Fisher Homes’ new Siena at Tuscany development and Drees Homes’ building of singlefamily and condominium homes in Erlanger as important developments.

Directly tied to tourism, the opening of North by Hotel Covington provides a new luxury boutique retreat in the heart of downtown Covington, one of several projects its owners, The Salyers Group, has in the area. However, the biggest project stirring interest may be the Covington Central Riverfront project.

Formerly the home of IRS’ tax-processing facility, the project – which Wice notes is under Covington’s auspices– is a 23-acre “blank canvas.” As Covington Economic Development Director Tom West noted on the city’s website (covingtonky.gov), the site will feature a mix of “single-family detached urban homes to office buildings, mixed-use structures and even a distillery/brewery.” This includes a more than $70 million infrastructure investment featuring a 670-car garage and public gathering spaces the city hopes to have partially developed by local businesses.

Noting the business attraction efforts of regional economic organizations like BE NKY Growth Partnership and REDI Cincinnati in helping bring new opportunities to the region, Wice is excited to see what comes next.

“I have been in both public and private sector economic and community development for over 15 years. There’s been a lot of positive momentum during that time, but even more so currently. You really have organizations with great leadership working together,” he says. “You have a lot of vibrancy around the airport, around Northern Kentucky University … It brings the three counties together. Specifically, in Kenton County, we are proactively and seriously working in each community to help identify priorities and drive development efforts forward as a team.” NKY

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